How to Sell an Electric Vehicle

One of the local automobile dealers once told me that the best way to sell an EV was to take it one customer at a time. Let the prospective customer take it for a test drive that might last a day or even a weekend. De-mystify the vehicle and the experience of charging. The most important thing is to let the driving experience speak for itself. Until people actually use them, they don’t realize how much fun they are to drive and how easy they are to use.

Of course, for this test drive scenario to happen, the customer has to already be at the dealership. But taking this concept a step further is the strategy behind the national series of Electric Car Guest Drive events staged by the publisher of Electric Car Insider to extend the reach of EV sampling to a larger public. In these events, EV owners allow members of the public to take a short test drive of their vehicle with the owner in the passenger seat. It allows for a free-flowing, informal, and friendly discussion about how to drive the car, the ins and outs of charging, and the EV driving experience in general.

Electric Vehicle Guest Drive

The EV Club of CT participated in one of these Electric Car Guest Drive events on May 16th and 18th. The 2-day event was held in Pearl River, NY at the offices of Orange and Rockland Utilities, which sponsored it. (Utilities realize that they are the new “gas stations.”)

Approximately 500 people attended over the two days with about half of them taking test drives. There were 12-15 cars available each day with drives conducted on a 1.3-mile pre-planned course. The vehicle makes represented included Tesla, Chevrolet, BMW, Mitsubishi, Mercedes Benz, and Audi. There were both battery electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid models. Based on my informal observation, the vehicle that got the most attention was the Tesla Model 3.

Personal Experience

As an owner and a newbie at this guest-drive thing, I admittedly approached the event with a little trepidation over allowing strangers to use my vehicle. Every other EV showcase I have attended (and I will cop to the fact that there have been way too many) either did not involve test drives (most of them), or had test drives offered by a limited number of participating dealers or Tesla reps. Given that this format has no sales pressure and a lot of EV owners present, there were many more people able to get behind the wheel.

I have been plugging in since 2012 and have lots to say about driving electric. Even 10 or so years into the modern EV era, we’re still considered early adopters and tend to be an enthusiastic bunch, champing at the bit for EV sales to get moving up that S-Curve. I had to restrain myself so that the test drivers could ask questions and I could get a sense of what they knew and what their pre-conceptions were. With respect to the Chevy Volt I was driving, many people still don’t understand the concept of a plug-in series hybrid. They were surprised at how much gas it saves and that its ride is closer to a Tesla than a Prius. These interactions turned out to be a lot of fun, and I get to opine on which options I think are worthwhile without having to worry about a sales manager looking over my shoulder. Interestingly, I also fielded a number of questions about buying a used EV, an important component of market growth.

Does It Work?

All of which leads to the big question: do these events accelerate adoption? Apparently, they do. In a big way. According to ECI publisher, Chris Alan, 30% of those taking a test drive purchase an EV within 6 months. (We’re not saying what we put in the lemonade.)

There will be more of these events coming to a city near you. Stay tuned!

The glimmer of blue sky in the photo was a brief break in the otherwise cloudy, cold, and windy spring day on which the 8th annual Westport Maker Faire was held.

The EV club was there in force with a Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, Tesla Model 3, BMW i3s, BMW i8, Jaguar I-Pace, and Chevrolet Volt in a joint exhibit with TecKnow Smart Home Automation and Ross Solar – smart homes, smart cars, and renewable energy.

Visitor traffic from attendees was steady throughout the day. Club members were on hand to provide information about the vehicles and what it is like to drive electric. The number of EV options is proliferating, and these showcases are a good way for people who are pressed for time to gain an understanding of the types of cars that are available and what driving electric is all about.

The Tesla “summon” feature was a big hit with visitors and allowed some youngsters to get their first taste of “driving” electric (safely and legally, of course – part of our nefarious long-term plan for all 6-year olds to demand to drive EVs when they get their license in 10 years.)

A few specifics about the vehicles present at the showcase:

Tesla Model S – 370 miles of range with long-range option.

Tesla Model X – 325 miles of range with long-range option.

Tesla Model 3 – 310 miles with long-range option.

(Note: these are current ranges – Tesla has improved the maximum range over time.)

BMW i3s – 153 miles of range (plus another 47 on gasoline with the optional range extender gasoline engine).

BMW i8 – This is a plug-in hybrid which gets 18 miles of electric range before the gasoline power kicks in and extends the range for another 312 miles at 38 MPG.

Jaguar I-Pace – A battery electric vehicle like the Teslas with a range of 234 miles.

Chevrolet Volt – A plug-in hybrid with 53 miles of electric range and another 370 miles on gas at 42 MPG. This vehicle has been discontinued by GM as of last month. The final model year is 2019 and there are is still some availability.

Join us at Maker Faire Westport 2019 on April 27. Our EVs and smart home exhibit is adjacent to the Baldwin Lot part of the Maker Faire exhibition areas, part of Bedford Square. You can’t miss us. You’ll hear us as well with live music!

Smart homes and Smart cars!  

Have you ever controlled 50 connected devices at one time by saying “I’m home!” as you walk in the front door?  Have you ever seen the electric car that can drive itself?  What about the one with the falcon wing doors that can dance to music? Come visit the TecKnow Pod along with the Electric Vehicle Club of Connecticut’s display at 12 Elm Street, Bedford Square where you can try out the most advanced and secure smart home tech for yourself and see, touch and climb around inside the latest Electric Vehicles (EVs) and find out what all the fuss is about. EV Club members will be there displaying a variety of vehicles and answering your questions about what life is like after you make the switch from a gasoline-powered car to an electric one. TecKnow It All’s and live local young rock bands will be on hand to showcase how music, green energy, and Smart Living Ecosystems will redefine how we live for generations to come…The Future is Now!

Two Teslas, Two LEAFs, a Jaguar and a BMWi3 – these are the cars EV Club of CT members displayed at the EV Showcase at Discovery Museum & Planetarium’s “Climate Week” Transportation event on Thursday, April 17, 2019, from 11-1. Guests who visited the showcase ranged from families with small children, to Museum board members to various presenters at the event including Katie Scharf Dykes, the newly appointed Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP). Various Club members expressed our support to Commissioner Dykes for extending the CHEAPR rebate for BEVs and other alternative fuel vehicles beyond 2019 to further incentivize EV purchases and rapidly expanding the adoption of electric buses for public transit and schools, perhaps with grants.

As enthusiasts, we all sang the praises of our EVs and underscored their benefits including zero tailpipe emissions, ease and low cost of maintenance, positively contributing to the decarbonization of the transportation sector, taking personal responsibility for improving public air quality, and advancing the adoption of EVs in the state by making the cars visible.

Sunny and warm weather allowed EV Club member Dawn Henry to entertain guests with her Tesla Model X’s performance of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s iconic rock Christmas song, Carol of the Bells. Watch the video below to see what we mean by performance – lights, doors, wings, mirrors – the car was literally dancing to the music while putting on a light show. Squeals of delight from small children could be seen and heard as they broke out in dance right along with the car. The X got a big round of applause at the end. For an encore, guests were invited to a little lighthearted toilet humor: Emissions Testing Mode with all 6 whoopee cushion sounds. A real hoot.

EV Club member and TecKnow founder Phil Levieff’s Tesla Model S wowed guests with its ability to be summoned on command from its owner. The car’s sensors stop it immediately if it nears any object. Smart, connected living – via cars, phones, smart homes, solar power and Tesla Powerwalls – are his expertise and guests were invited to learn more at the Westport Maker Faire on Saturday, April 27. The EV Club will be presenting a showcase as part of TecKnow’s “The Future is Now” smart living experience at their Bedford Square office.

Eugene Tomachinski, an EV Club member and owner of Eugene’s Green Garage, brought a 2016 BMWi3 Rex, which is for sale as a Certified BMW used vehicle with 18,000 miles.

EV Club member David Symington from Jaguar Land Rover of Fairfield brought a brand new Jaguar I-Pace SUV for us all to check out and promised to bring another to the next meeting. The car was just awarded the World Car of the Year at the New York International Auto Show!

Analiese Paik and Jackie Eskin displayed their white 2016 Nissan LEAF and 2012 light blue LEAF, respectively. Comparing them side by side was useful in learning how much changes so quickly in EV technology, but both have steering wheel warmers.

Please join us at the Maker Faire or our next meeting on Tuesday, April 23 at 7 pm at the Higgins Group offices at Bedford Square.

Please join the EV Club of CT there! 

Visit our EV showcase featuring a Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model 3 and more in the parking lot. Come inside – it’s free – to visit us at our exhibitor table where we are part of the Sustainne https://sustainne.com/zone featuring an immersive sustainable living experience.

We look forward to offering you the opportunity to learn from enthusiastic EV owners about how easy and fun it is to drive an EV, and get your questions answeredabout safety, charging, servicing and more as we lounge in the Conversation Zone filled with comfy furniture courtesy of The Junkluggers.

Sustainne is a proud sponsor and Green Partner! The Junkluggers is a Silver Sponsor and is hosting the Conversation Zone to foster dialog around zero waste and sustainable living. Bring your used textiles to recycle on the Bay State Textiles truck and junk to recycle on The Junkluggers truck (first 100 guests only).

Bring the whole family to enjoy Sustainne’s immersive sustainable living experience featuring a zero waste tiny home, zero waste tiny greenhouse, a raised bed with edible crops, a chicken coop, a composting system, beehive, a rainwater harvesting system, an electric scooter, rescued and upcycled furniture and art and more!

MISSION:

The Zero Waste Faire is a special event designed to educate, inspire, entertain, and engage the town of Wilton and neighboring communities about zero waste living. With your participation, this event will be even more dynamic than last year’s, which received broad accolades, featured over 100 exhibitors, and had an attendance of over 1000 people of all ages from CT, NY and MA.

Pre-election candidates debate.

Organized by the Westport Green Task Force, these are the logistics:

Thursday, November 1st, 2018

7p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

EARTHPLACE, THE NATURE DISCOVERY CENTER

10 WOODSIDE LANE, WESTPORT, CT

Hear what the candidates have to say about environmental issues, policies, and plans that affect Westport and CT.

State Senate District 26:

Senator Toni Boucher (R) vs William Haskell (D)

State Senate District 28:

Senator Tony Hwang (R) vs Michelle Lapine McCabe (D)

State House District 136:

Representative Jonathan Steinberg (D) vs. Greg Kraut (R)

(Note: Mr. Kraut declined to participate)

State House District 143:

Representative Gail Lavielle (R) vs Stephanie Thomas (D)

Do you have questions you want to have answered?

Submit them to gtf@westportct.gov

The club supports various EV showcase events as they have been a proven way to spread the word about EVs.

Attendees from the general public who are interested in EVs can have a conversation with an owner about their real-life experience owning a plug-in vehicle and not be in a pressured sales environment. It is ideal for someone who is anywhere from early in the learning curve to the point where they may be focusing on the fine points between a couple of vehicles they have narrowed their search to as they get close to making a purchase decision. Customer experiences at dealerships (excluding Tesla) can vary wildly, with some dealerships embracing EVs and having a knowledgeable staff to others which can be indifferent or hostile. This is a great way to arm oneself with important knowledge. These events are also a great way to interact with media or politicians who are often present.

Our experience as EV-owners at numerous events of this nature is that most people still don’t know much about EVs or the types of models available.

WE SEEK EV-OWNER CLUB MEMBERS to bring their EVs to one or more of these events. Please email WestportEVClub@gmail.com if you are interested in participating. We will follow up with details.

AVANGRID COMPANY FAIR

Expected attendance ~400. This is a fair for Avangrid employees. Avangrid has recently been buying Chevy Bolts to use for their corporate fleet. The CEO will give a short talk on the advantages of EVs from a corporate perspective.

TIME/LOCATION – Tuesday, August 7, 11:30 AM – 2 PM. The event will be held at Avangrid HQ at 180 Marsh Hill Road, Orange, CT.

There is a barbecue and attendees will be served lunch. This is a short lead time. RSVP by Friday, August 3 if interested.

NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK

The club is participating in the local NDEW event in Fairfield. This is a combo EV Showcase and Ride and Drives. There is a mix of EV owners as well as dealers who participate. The Ride and Drives are only done by the dealers. There will also be speakers. Turnout at these events has been good, both from the perspective of EV owners and spectators. EV owners can come for just a part of it. Those interested, please register here

TIME/LOCATION – Saturday, September 8, 10 AM – 2 PM. Fairfield Warde High School (under the new solar carports), 755 Melville Avenue, Fairfield, CT

CLIMATE REALITY PRESENTATION + EV EVENT

Club board member Dawn Henry will be giving the latest iteration of the Climate Reality Presentation (the Al Gore slide show). She is a certified presenter. Following the CR presentation, there will be a talk about EV basics followed by an EV showcase.

TIME/LOCATION – Thursday, September 20, 4:30 PM – 7 PM. Westport Senior Center, 21 Imperial Avenue, Westport, CT

SUSTAINABLE LIVING EXPO

Expected attendance ~1000. There is an EV showcase that is held in conjunction with this event.

TIME/LOCATION – Saturday, October 13, 12 PM – 2 PM. Stepping Stones Museum, Norwalk, CT.

A ribbon-cutting for the largest cluster of charging stations in Connecticut will be hosted by the Electric Vehicle Club of Connecticut, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, and the Connecticut Electric Vehicle Coalition on June 13, 2018, at 5:00 PM in Hartford. This event is open to the general public.

777 Main Street in Hartford is a LEED Certified Platinum building with 285 apartments and 40,000 square feet of commercial space. The development includes a total of 29 EV chargers: six Tesla superchargers, eight Tesla destination chargers, eight Clipper Creek level 2 chargers, and six level 2 and one level 3 DC SAE combo ChargePoint chargers.

A reception and panel discussion of EV policy in the Penthouse of 777 Main will follow, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. Moderator and panelists:

• Claire Coleman – Energy and Environment Attorney at CT Fund for the Environment
• Matt Macunas – Legislative Liaison and EV Policy Specialist at CT Green Bank
• Kerri Enright Kato – Director of DEEP’s Office of Climate Change
• Emily Lewis – Policy Analyst at The Acadia Center

Subject to interest and time, an EV “ride and drive” will be available. An array of new electric vehicles are expected, including BMW, Nissan, Chevrolet, Tesla, and Honda.

About 777 Main

777 Main was designed and developed by Becker and Becker. Principal Bruce Becker, also the president of the Electric Vehicle Club of CT, stated, “80% of EV charging is done at home. Residents of apartments and condos typically have less access to charging, which is a significant barrier to ownership for a lot of people, especially in cities. The ambitious emission-reduction goals set by the state underscore the importance of increasing the number of EVs from the 6,264 registered as of March. This project in Hartford, CT serves as an example for adding charging features in housing developments as an impetus to accelerate EV adoption.”

First Tesla Model 3 in CT

Westport Electric Car Club Member Bruce Becker is the recipient of the first Model 3 from Tesla to be delivered to Connecticut. As an existing (or should we say pre-existing) Tesla owner of a Model S, along with an early dive into the packed reservation queue, Becker was able to land his prize. The only way to have gotten it sooner would have been to be a Tesla employee. As of the end of January, Tesla had only delivered 3,647 units of the Model 3 with a backlog of over 400,000 non-binding reservations.

A gathering at the charging stations outside of Staples High School in Westport brought a number of onlookers and local officials. The timing is propitious as the CT State Legislature has just convened it’s “short session.” There will be another push to pass legislation that would allow Tesla to open stores in Connecticut, which is one of only a handful of states that do not permit this. As a result, CT residents have to travel to neighboring states to purchase, depriving CT of millions in lost tax revenues, not to mention the economic activity that would result from Tesla investing in facilities and hiring locally, and not to mention that Tesla manufacturers clean transportation vehicles in the USA.

The Westport Electric Car Club has started a petition to tell our legislators to support this legislation. It is easy to virtually support this effort. Just text “EV CT” to 52886.

Bruce Becker, Model 3 Owner. Yes, that’s a BMW i8 in the back/center (Photo: Barry Kresch for WECC)

Details

Becker described the Model 3 as providing an exceptional driving experience, smooth, quiet, responsive, more fun even than his Model S.

 Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe was checking out the goods. (Photo: Barry Kresch for WECC)

View of the trunk and panoramic glass roof. (Photo: Barry Kresch for WECC)

Here is the “frunk.” No engine = more storage. (Photo: Barry Kresch for WECC)

All of the controls are part of the screen. Otherwise, the dash is a clean laminated strip, partly visible here between the screen and the steering wheel. (Photo: Barry Kresch for WECC)

Please support our petition. The legislature is on a short timeline to act and now is the time to be heard.

National Drive Electric Week

The 2017 Drive Electric Week is coming up next month (September 9-17) and will be celebrated locally with an event in Fairfield on Saturday, September 9 from 10 AM to 2 PM. This is one of the larger EV showcases in the area with approximately 50 EVs exhibited from both dealers and private owners. New models of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are being introduced at an increasing rate and this is a great opportunity to see many of them.

The event location is the Auxiliary Commuter Parking Lot, 140 Mill Plain Road across from the Sportsplex@Fairfield.

Electric bikes welcome, too!

Drive Electric Week is presented by Plug In America, the Sierra Club, and the Electric Auto Association.

The event is free.